The First Few Years

Laura and Manly moved onto his homestead claim of 160 acres where he raised trees, wheat, and horses. They had debts to pay because of the machinery they bought and had to hire people to help Manly when Laura couldn't. When the debts were paid and the harvest done, Laura and Manly rode across the prairie with their horses, Trixy and Fly. While Laura was expecting her first child in December, 1886, the new couple had to move to a different spot on their claim because they couldn't afford to pay the bills on the house. Manly spent the next few months fixing up the little shanty until baby Rose was born on December 5, 1886. In the summer of 1887, their crops did not make it because of hot winds and little rain, and Manly became partially paralyzed in his hands because of diphtheria. One day, the house caught fire because Rose dropped burning hay on the floor in the kitchen. Another drought was the last thing that encouraged Manly to leave Dakota and move somewhere else. They decided to follow Peter to Florida and took a train there. But the Florida heat was too much for Laura and she became very ill. So they went home and stayed with Laura's family until they got back up on their feet.
On hearing about the Ozark mountains in Missouri, with its lush, green fields and fat cattle, Laura and Manly decided that that was what they would call home. In the summer of 1894, Laura and Manly made the wagon ride to Missouri and immediately liked what they saw. Low hills, green pastures, large trees, and long valleys, they looked and looked for the perfect place to live. Then, they came upon a place that Laura said she would die for to have. It was a rough and rocky 40 acre piece of land; Manly said it didn't look promising, but Laura said firmly that it would work. On September 24, 1894, the Wilders bought the land. Laura named it Rocky Ridge Farm, and it came free of charge from the previous owners with 400 tiny apple trees waiting to be planted in an orchard. They moved into a log cabin by a ravine where Rose helped Laura prepare the house for winter while Manly cleared the land. The Wilders were home. " There is no other country in the world like the Ozarks!" - Laura Ingalls Wilder